Stories of a Puppeteer and his Metal-Legged, Bolted-Eared Puppet
by CrispyWolf
Summary: Guess what? More March Hare stories that are somewhat sad! Isn't this fun kids? Short stories centered around the March Hare separated into chapters. Each story begins with a quote from Bumby while he warps the Hare's mindset and Hatter's domain.
1. The former conductor - the Mock Turtle

"_The railway running through Wonderland sounds charming, but inefficient. Noise and smoke, like 'snips and snails', perhaps. Best forget that train. A mock turtle as conductor? No, I don't think that will do at all."_

The hare's long ears tilted forward towards the sound of a train's engine running. Train tracks lead onto a hill where a large, welcoming wooden sign that read "Looking Glass Line" could be seen. Soon, a fairly normal looking train arrived at it's station right on schedule, just as the hare expected. Out of the engine car emerged a turtle with a bull's head and feet. This was the Mock Turtle, the conductor of the Looking Glass railway. It seems that he'd have finished a day's work since all of the passenger cars were empty. This is how Hare was told he wanted to catch the turtle; alone.

The turtle turned around and waved in the hare's direction in a friendly manner, letting the hare know that he had been spotted (not that Hare was trying to hide from him anyway). Seeing Mock Turtle's polite greeting, Hare almost felt bad for what he had to do. He shook his head, tossing aside any twinges of regret he might have, and moved up the hill to "greet" the turtle back. Once he got close enough to the train, the turtle excitedly ran over to him to shake his hand. "Oh, how do you do, Hare? It's been so long-Oh!" The turtle jumped back in realization as he nearly grabbed the hare's bladed arm and cut his fin trying to shake it like a hand. Once he had gotten over that state of shock, he took a moment to observe the hare's body. It was enough that the hare now only had one hand and fully organic arm, but then combine that with the fact that his legs were now gone and replaced with gears, springs, and other mechanical gizzards! Now combine that with the plate nailed into his head, the bolts in his ears, and the dark expression on his face and he looked almost monster-like.

"My, my, what happened to you, then?" asked the turtle. "The Queen's rule wasn't very kind to you, then, was it? You hadn't been around these parts since before then." The turtle tilted his head, but then smiled and shook the hare's only organic hand. "Well, it's good to see you back around, anyway." The hare simply nodded. "Aye." He returned the gesture and shook the turtle's fin back, however, the dark, blank expression remained on his face. Mock Turtle frowned at this, as it didn't seem the hare would say anything other than "Aye". "I say, why so silent, good friend?" asked the mock turtle. The hare let go of the turtle's fin and turned towards the train next to him, observing it. "So...this is theh Lookin' Glass Line Ah've heard much aboot." "Why, yes! And I take much pride in running it, don't you know? Ever since Gryphon's...passing on, I've had to keep myself busy and I found great joy in doing this! Making deliveries and transporting citizens around Wonderland makes me almost as happy as dancing did!" Hare silently walked to the end of the engine car as he observed it, then over to the sign. "Ah see..." The hare lifted his bladed arm and swung it towards one of the wooden poles that kept the sign up, chopping it in half. This caused the sign to fall over, breaking the other pole.

"Hare? Wh-what are you doing?"

"Ah'm sorry, but this 'as to go."

"What? What has to go?"

"This! All of this!"

Hare proceeded to walk back over to the front of the train and, with all of his strength, pushed it onto it's side. "Hare! I-I don't understand... Wh-why? Why are you doing this?" The hare turned around to see the turtle now on his knees, shaking from fright. The hare leaned over so his head was just above the shaking turtle's and glared right into the turtle's small, frightened eyes. "Get out. Yer train's of no use 'ere." "B-but...I..." "Out, Ah said!" The turtle got up and ran as fast as a turtle with cow legs could. Ever since, he'd been watching the industry form all around the train tracks from afar.


	2. A poor, damned one-track mind

"_Hmmmm...a dormouse as well as a March hare? How very quaint. He seems rather stupid, though perhaps this may come to an advantage. Though he's not nearly as refined, your dormouse is much more productive than the March Hare. No doubt his lack of focus in memory will make him a most obedient and enthusiastic little worker."_

The hare stepped onto an elevator, praying that his travel all the way to the other side of the factory wouldn't be in vain. The elevator took him down to a control room that was very warm in temperature in comparison to his own control room, which was rather cold. Much like his own control area, this one was elevated above pools of molten metal with the elevator serving as one's only way in and out of it. Directly in front of the elevator Hare was on was the Dormouse at his control panel. It didn't seem he could even be bothered to turn around to greet his partner, as he was far too engrossed in his work. Hare could tell that he knew he was here, however, because the mouse's ears made a slight twitch when the elevator landed.

"...Lad?"

"Oh, hello there, Hare. I didn't think you'd be here today. We just discussed the plans yesterday!"

"Well, Ah..."

"And shouldn't you be on your side of the factory doing your part anyway?"

"Well, there wez somethin' Ah wanted the ask yeh, so if yeh wouldn't mind turnin' aroond and listenin'..."

With an annoyed twitch of the nose, the wheeled mouse slowly turned himself around to face the tall hare. "...Yes?" The hare looked down for a moment at his feet, feeling nervous for the response he'd get from his old friend. His long ears slowly drooped down as he looked back up to at least the dormouse's eye level. "Dormy, do yeh remember a thing from back then?" The mouse tilted his head and raised an eyebrow. "Back then? What is there to remember from back then?" After a few seconds, the mouse looked up happily and raised a finger in realization. "Oh, I get it! Back then! When we first started making the train!" The hare sighed and shook his head. "No, lad. No."

"Well, what, then?"

"Do yeh remember...theh tea party? Our never endin' tea party?"

"What tea party?"

"Back in the good ol' days...with theh Hatter..."

"There's nothing to remember about the Hatter except that we took him down."

"But...Dormy..."

The Dormouse suddenly started laughing and moved over to the hare, turning himself to be at his side and then gently pushed him over to the edge of the control area. "Look all around, Hare." the wheeled mouse said excitedly as he gestured to all of the room. "All of this progress! And I've done it all by myself, Hare. Soon our mission will be complete and everything will go according to our grand plan! Ohohohohoho! Isn't it wonderful, Hare?" The hare did look around at all of the molten metal and how the pot which had the Hatter's arms pour more into each assorted area. It was indeed very nice and organized, and Dormy had come a long way from not knowing much of mechanics the way he did. Still, it didn't make him as happy as hearing a nonsense story like he would've at one of their tea parties would.

"It's...It's lovely, Dormy. But...are yeh sure yeh doan't remember anythin' from theh past?"

"What good are memories? They're unproductive! We're in charge of the train now!"

"But...yer sure yeh doan't remember even a little bit?"

"Quite sure. Now, if all goes well, perhaps the train will be finished early. Wouldn't that be great, Hare?"

"Is that bluidy train all yer willin' to talk aboot?"

"It's all that matters, Hare. All that matters...Hahaha...The train..."

The hare sighed in defeat as the wheeled mouse went back to his control panel without even looking at the hare. The hare slowly walked back to the elevator, his ears completely flopped down in disappointment. Before stepping onto the elevator again, he looked back at his friend and decided on a whim to try one last thing.

"Why's a raven like a writin' desk?"

"The train is coming with it's shiny cars, with comfy seats and wheels of stars. So hush, my little ones, have no fear. The man in the moon is the engineer. Ohohohoho..."

That was the last time Hare tried to discuss anything other than the train with the Dormouse.


	3. Old, sweet memories - Put them to sleep

"_I like how refined and clever this hare is. He is, however, not productive enough. He's not like the Dormouse. He holds on. He's much like you. The March Hare needs to let go and when he finally learns to, I want you to do so as well."_

There he was again; Long face, black ooze dripping from his eyes, odd beard, mutilated hands, and distorted voice. Whatever did he want now?

"I see progress has begun already and it's going very well so far."

"…Aye."

"Little Dormy is going about his business and getting work done far better than expected. I'm very impressed with him."

"…Aye."

"And what about you? Getting on well with the construction of the train, too, I hope."

"Hmmm?"

The March Hare looked up from the floor to the man-like creature's long, thin face. The poor leporid seemed almost as though he was out of it or at least had been for a majority of the conversation. He seemed almost unsure to the larger creature, but he brushed off the unconfident facial expression in exchange for an emotionless one. "Aye….Ah used up all the materials yeh gave meh. All the turmoil 'an grief. Yes, 'an gathered yer fuel, too…whatever it's made of. It's got all it needs teh be as destructehve as yeh wanted it. It joost needs teh be coated. It's being taken care of in the factory as weh speak! Comfy seats and a strong metallic outside….Ah got it."

The human-faced creature raised an eyebrow at the half robotic, half organic hare. "Is there something troubling you? Something that doesn't involve the train?" He frowned and tapped his large finger in front of the hare. "Because if so, that isn't good. You absolutely must be focused on your work. I won't accept you acting this way." He stopped tapping his finger and moved it to stroke the mangy hare's chin. "Come now, aren't you glad you took down that...that nasty Hatter?" Hare's eyes trailed down to the ground again, though his head was still. The Hatter….Hare had actually been thinking about that damned ogre quite a bit lately. He was angry at him – he had never so angry at someone in his entire life – but he couldn't help but think about how things used to be and wonder…could things be different then how they are now? If he went back to the Lost and Found, repaired Hatter, and apologize for his incredible outburst right now, would he accept it? Could they possibly even go back to the never ending tea party and recall Dormy's memory of it? Could they…be friends again? "Ahem." Hare quickly snapped out of his thoughts and looked back up to the creature before him.

"…Ah'm sorry, Ah wez joost….thinkin'."

"About what? The Hatter?"

"…Yes. Aboot Hatter."

"Why? You've already succeeded in getting him out of the way and starting to put his rusty old domain in use."

"Ah know."

"You weren't thinking about crawling back to his dirty hands, were you?"

"No! Not at all! Ah wez joost thinkin' 'bout….how things used to be…"

"Did you honestly think you could possibly go back to that?"

"…Ah…"

"Would you honestly want to, knowing what you know now? That he's a bloody traitor who tortures children and even his own friends for the sake of science? That he could turn around and do it again at any time? You're better than that, Hare. He doesn't think of you as his friend, he thinks of you as a subject to his experiments. You'll never be friends again, not like you were…or thought you were, anyway. Best forget all that. Forget about your tea parties, for recalling them is pointless. Forget any ounce of love or respect you ever had for him. It's gone. Anything he ever had for you is gone, as well. The past is dead. You are a leader now. You are in charge of what once was his domain. You're already on the path to success, now keep going. Only if you let go of the past can this truly work. Remember, the damage is done."

"….Ah understand."

"Good. Now, remember to have the train completely ready by when I had scheduled it. You remember when I want it to leave station, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Yes, very good. Now go and continue to build it. Focus on that and only that."

The mangy hare nodded and turned around to walk away after the creature gave one last stroke to his chin. Another memory started to flow through his mind. He shook his head, quickly pushing it out of his mind. His master was right; The Hatter was bad, evil, sinister, and deliberately betrayed him. He could never be trusted again. And those memories? Why try and remember all the good things about a person when you already know how horrid he actually is? It's pointless; It'll only make one miss how he used to be. _Now Ah've got a train to finish_


End file.
